Al Pike: Schlim’s heart beats strong for her team

Considered the heart and soul of the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy girls basketball team, Jenny Schlim was worried there might be something wrong with the heart.

“I was having uncomfortable feelings in my chest,” said the junior captain. “I was having these weird palpitations. They were concerned I might have an irregular heartbeat.”

While her teammates were practicing and getting ready for the season, Schlim was on the sideline with a heart monitor strapped to her body.

Relegated to simple exercises, she couldn’t run and was unable to join them in stressful conditioning drills.

When the Bears started playing games, Schlim was playing catch-up following a health scare that reduced her playing time at the beginning on what has evolved into a championship caliber team.

“From a basketball standpoint she was a couple weeks behind in conditioning,” said coach Dave Hartnett. “It caught us by surprise. She tried to play through it.”

It wasn’t the way the Bears wanted to start the season. They had high hopes, but no seniors had come out for the team, they lost two of their first four games and now their best player had a potential cardiac problem.

“As far as the team was concerned she’s grown up with a lot of these players,” Hartnett said. “She’s the team leader. They were really concerned. Having been around her for three years we were more worried about the person than the player.”

Fortunately, the issue wasn’t as serious as first thought, and Schlim will lead the Bears into Sunday’s Division II championship game against Merrimack Valley.

“It definitely made me nervous,” Schlim said. “I’d be sitting in school and I could feel (my heart beat). I’m glad to be playing basketball, and there’s nothing wrong. I haven’t really noticed it in a long time. They checked me out to make sure I didn’t have any heart issues.”

That doesn’t mean Coe-Brown’s most productive player — who can play all five positions on the court — wasn’t apprehensive about the physical demands of playing basketball.

“It made me nervous for the season,” Schlim said. “It affected me a little bit. When they looked further into it I wasn’t allowed to practice with the team. There was nothing to be fixed. It wasn’t painful. I just notice my heartbeat more than other people do. It had been going on before and I thought it was normal.”

Her minutes had to be closely monitored at first, and she was removed from the game at the first sign of fatigue.

“Going for tests I was definitely nervous,” Schlim said. “I didn’t know what was going on. It was such a relief just to be practicing again. That was my main priority so I would be ready for the games. I just remember calling for subs more often than I normally would. I didn’t like calling for subs because it makes it look like I get tired too easily.”

Four games into the season Schlim was still struggling with her game and her confidence. Then she hit a game-winning 3-pointer from the corner with six seconds left to beat rival Portsmouth, 51-50.

It was an improbable victory in which Coe-Brown trailed 50-46 with eight seconds remaining. Schlim finished with a team-high 16 points.

“Before that game I didn’t have much confidence,” she said. “I was nervous I wasn’t going to be able to get back. That game and that shot gave me my confidence back and pushed me to work harder.

“That was definitely a big boost,” Schlim added, “and it got everyone excited. I remember the reaction after I hit the shot. Everyone went crazy. It was an awesome feeling and made everyone look forward to the rest of the season.”

The Bears lost their next game to Merrimack Valley, but have gone 13-2 since and enter the title game with a nine-game win streak, including three in the playoffs.

What helped Schlim keep her frustration level to a minimum were the contributions of such players as Abby Ahern, Sarah Curtin and Debbie Peabody in particular.

“I basically missed all the practices before the season,” Schlim said. “I’ve worked hard during the season to get back to where I was supposed to be. I had to catch up to the rest of the team. I started to get back into shape. Teams were double-teaming me and I was out of shape. It took me longer to get into game shape. I’m back now.”

Coe-Brown’s depth could play a role in Sunday’s championship.

“Whenever I have an off night or someone else is having an off night,” Schlim said, “there’s always someone to pick up the slack and have a good game and bring us back to the win.”

As for her medical issue, she said, “I don’t really look back. I just try to forget about it and focus on the next game.”

Al Pike is a staff sports writer for Foster’s Daily Democrat. He can be reached at 516-2936 or at apike@fosters.com.